Mark Ferguson
Main Page: Mark Ferguson (Labour - Gateshead Central and Whickham)Department Debates - View all Mark Ferguson's debates with the HM Treasury
(2 days, 2 hours ago)
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right, and she is a great advocate for businesses in her constituency. She will know that Mayors in the UK, for example, have committed themselves to buying electric buses from British manufacturers, and we will be working with mayoral authorities in the years ahead to ensure that we can do more of that, not less.
Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)
It is good to hear the Chief Secretary and the Chancellor talk about removing barriers to growth, but in Gateshead we have a literal barrier to growth: 400 tonnes of concrete in the Gateshead flyover, which is currently closed because it is unsafe. As yet the money to replace this has not been forthcoming, even though it would unlock housing and the redevelopment of Gateshead’s town centre. Can the Chief Secretary assure me that projects of this kind, in Gateshead and across the country, will be prioritised as a way of unlocking further growth in the economy?
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that case. Let me encourage him to write to the Transport Secretary and copy me into his correspondence, so that we can look at the details and consider it further.